During the summer, campus is slower, The Pit is empty of rowdy, energetic fans and people are awaiting the return of Lobo sporting events. But, the University of New Mexico Athletic Department is still up and running. Here’s a look at what’s happening during the offseason.
“(We’re) getting a lot of projects done before the season starts and the student athletes return,” Ryan Berryman, UNM’s Deputy Athletic Director and Chief Operating Officer, said. “It's also a time of change — you have new coaches, new athletes, new students that will be onboarded and getting ready for the start of the semester.”
After an eventful and championship-filled season, the Athletic Department has a focus on construction and making physical improvements for the fall, especially regarding football.
“We all know that we need our football program to be more competitive, more consistently, and I think we have the right leadership in place, from the top all the way down to the bottom,” Fernando Lovo, UNM’s Vice President and Director of Athletics, said. “I feel confident in that, and so we need to do our job as an administration, to make our football program and our game day experience better.”
Most of those efforts involve making improvements to University Stadium. The video board in the stadium is being upgraded to provide higher-quality imagery. There is also construction on a new team room, where athletes can watch films and meet with coaches. Another change is the movement of the student section, which occurred after a meeting with the student body president and other student leaders, Lovo said.
The funds for these improvements come from an $11 million appropriation from the state legislature specifically earmarked for improvements to the football stadium. Other improvements occurring over this summer include remodeling the tennis courts in the McKinnon Family Tennis Stadium, putting down a new cherry and silver playing surface along with new equipment for the Tow Diehm Athletics Facility.
Another focus is on building and engaging with a community built around Lobo Athletics.
“One of the things, I think, is the greatest thing about this community in this state, is how much people care about local athletics,” Lovo said. “For me, to be able to get out, take my family, my kids, get out in the community, meet people, get to learn this great city, this wonderful state, and just become one with everyone here, that's a big priority for me and my family.”
The athletics department is also planning which projects to request funding for next legislative session. The priorities will be more improvements to University Stadium, upgrades to the softball facilities — including locker rooms and coaches' offices — and replacing the video boards in The Pit, Berryman said.
As they plan their upcoming projects, the department is dealing with the end of the fiscal year.
“Reconciling all of our budgets and looking at where we projected things to come in and where they are coming in, and closing the year that way,” Berryman said. “As the calendar turns to July, we enter a new year, so you have new projections for tickets or television or other things that have changed from last season.”
The department is also having to deal with and adapt to the changing landscape of college athletics, as both the House settlement and conference realignment have caused considerable adjustments to be made.
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“It's a very turbulent time in college athletics. I'd say we have the most going on right now that I've had in my entire career, in terms of just when you look at the entire landscape of what's going on between the stuff that we're all used to doing and getting ready for a season, and then adding these new kind of developments in college athletics,” Berryman said. “So it's a very, very busy time. We're working a lot of hours and trying to get New Mexico situated the best for the future.”
Jaden McKelvey-Francis is the editor-in-chief of the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at editorinchief@dailylobo.com or on X @jadenmckelvey
